Dr Ball’s calls for study into the potential link between football and premature hair loss have been echoed by other experts in the field.

Hair loss surgeon Dr Craig Ziering, medical director of the Ziering Medical clinic in Los Angeles, agreed that chronic inflammation of the scalp could be caused by repeated trauma from heading a football.

Meanwhile Professor Andrew Messenger, a consultant dermatologist at Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield also welcomed research into the topic.

He added: “I doubt that biopsies will give the answer – an epidemiologic study would be the first step.”

BUT... HELP IS AT HAND

WHILE hair loss is a terrifying prospect for many, the good news is it can be reversed through pioneering hair transplant ops.

The surgery involves transferring healthy hair follicles from another part of the patient, to hairless areas of the scalp.

When it comes to hair transplants, there are two options.

The first is the follicular unit transplant technique (FUT) or “strip” surgery.

This involves removing a thin strip of hair-bearing skin, known as the “donor area”.

Surgeons harvest hair follicles from this piece of scalp tissue, and transplant it to the hair-less area, the “recipient area”.

The op can take between four and 12 hours depending on the size of the bald patch and the number of grafts needed.

The newly-implanted hairs will begin to grow through after around four months.

The other form of surgery is follicular unit extraction (FUE).

It involves extracting individual follicles directly from the scalp, using a “punch” 0.9mm in width, leaving only tiny dots for scars.

Next the surgeon makes microscopic slits in the recipient area, and the individual grafts are placed in the sites.

A typical FUE treatment involves up to 2,000 grafts and can take 10 hours, while larger cases may require more than one day in surgery.

The new hairs will begin to grow approximately four months after surgery, and will continue to grow through for the next 10 to 15 months.